3,371 research outputs found
Inmunosensors més eficaços grà cies a l'oxigen
El desenvolupament de nous biosensors amb elevada sensibilitat i baix cost de producciĂł ha estat impulsat grĂ cies a la nanotecnologia. Aquest treball analitza la fabricaciĂł d'immunosensors electroquĂmics basats en un compòsit de nanotubs de carboni (CNT) i matriu polimèrica (poliestirè), sotmès a un plasma d'oxigen per millorar el rendiment dels sensors.El desarrollo de nuevos biosensores de gran sensibilidad y bajo coste se está potenciando gracias a la nanotecnologĂa. Este trabajo explora la fabricaciĂłn de inmunosensores electroquĂmicos a partir de un compuesto de nanotubos de carbono y matriz polimĂ©rica (poliestireno), sometido a un plasma de oxĂgeno para mejorar el rendimiento de los sensores
Evaluating Labor Market Reforms: A General Equilibrium Approach
fixed-term contracts, firing costs, general equilibrium, heterogeneous agents
Rapid colorimetric detection of wound infection with a fluidic paper device
Current procedures for the assessment of chronic wound infection are time-consuming and require complex instruments and trained personnel. The incidence of chronic wounds worldwide, and the associated economic burden, urge for simple and cheap point-of-care testing (PoCT) devices for fast on-site diagnosis to enable appropriate early treatment. The enzyme myeloperoxidase (MPO), whose activity in infected wounds is about ten times higher than in non-infected wounds, appears to be a suitable biomarker for wound infection diagnosis. Herein, we develop a single-component foldable paper-based device for the detection of MPO in wound fluids. The analyte detection is achieved in two steps: (i) selective immunocapture of MPO, and (ii) reaction of a specific dye with the captured MPO, yielding a purple color with increasing intensity as a function of the MPO activity in infected wounds in the range of 20–85 U/mL. Ex vivo experiments with wound fluids validated the analytic efficiency of the paper-based device, and the results strongly correlate with a spectrophotometric assay.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
A fungal ascorbate oxidase with unexpected laccase activity
Ascorbate oxidases are an enzyme group that has not been explored to a large extent. So far, mainly ascorbate oxidases from plants and only a few from fungi have been described. Although ascorbate oxidases belong to the well-studied enzyme family of multi-copper oxidases, their function is still unclear. In this study, Af_AO1, an enzyme from the fungus Aspergillus flavus, was characterized. Sequence analyses and copper content determination demonstrated Af_AO1 to belong to the multi-copper oxidase family. Biochemical characterization and 3D-modeling revealed a similarity to ascorbate oxidases, but also to laccases. Af_AO1 had a 10-fold higher affinity to ascorbic acid (KM = 0.16 ± 0.03 mM) than to ABTS (KM = 1.89 ± 0.12 mM). Furthermore, the best fitting 3D-model was based on the ascorbate oxidase from Cucurbita pepo var. melopepo. The laccase-like activity of Af_AO1 on ABTS (Vmax = 11.56 ± 0.15 µM/min/mg) was, however, not negligible. On the other hand, other typical laccase substrates, such as syringaldezine and guaiacol, were not oxidized by Af_AO1. According to the biochemical and structural characterization, Af_AO1 was classified as ascorbate oxidase with unusual, laccase-like activityPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version
Real-time smart multisensing wearable platform for monitoring sweat biomarkers during exercise
Sweat secreted by the human eccrine sweat glands can provide valuable biomarker information during exercise in hot and humid conditions. Real-time noninvasive biomarker recordings are therefore useful for evaluating the physiological conditions of an athlete such as their hydration status during endurance exercise. In this work, we describe a platform that in- cludes different sweat biomonitoring prototypes of cost-effective, smart wearable devices for continuous biomonitoring of sweat during exercise. One prototype is based on conformable and disposable soft sensing patches with an integrated multi-sensor array requiring the integration of different sensors and printed sensors with their corresponding functionalization protocols on the same substrate. The second is based on silicon based sensors and paper microfluidics. Both platforms integrate a multi-sensor array for measuring sodium, potassium, and pH in sweat. We show preliminary results obtained from the multi-sensor prototypes placed on two athletes during exercise. We also show that the machine learning algorithms can predict the percentage of body weight loss during exercise from biomarkers such as heart rate and sweat sodium concentration collected over multiple subjects
Multisensing wearables for real-time monitoring of sweat electrolyte biomarkers during exercise and analysis on their correlation with core body temperature
Sweat secreted by the human eccrine sweat glands can provide valuable biomarker information during exercise. Real-time non-invasive biomarker recordings are therefore useful for evaluating the physiological conditions of an athlete such as their hydration status during endurance exercise. This work describes a wearable sweat biomonitoring patch incorporating printed electrochemical sensors into a plastic microfluidic sweat collector and data analysis that shows the real-time recorded sweat biomarkers can be used to predict a physiological biomarker. The system was placed on subjects carrying out an hour-long exercise session and results were compared to a wearable system using potentiometric robust silicon-based sensors and to commercially available HORIBA-LAQUAtwin devices. Both prototypes were applied to the real-time monitoring of sweat during cycling sessions and showed stable readings for around an hour. Analysis of the sweat biomarkers collected from the printed patch prototype shows that their real-time measurements correlate well (correlation coefficient ≥0.65 ) with other physiological biomarkers such as heart rate and regional sweat rate collected in the same session. We show for the first time, that the real-time sweat sodium and potassium concentration biomarker measurements from the printed sensors can be used to predict the core body temperature with root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.02 °C which is 71% lower compared to the use of only the physiological biomarkers. These results show that these wearable patch technologies are promising for real-time portable sweat monitoring analytical platforms, especially for athletes performing endurance exercise
The Risk of Contracting COVID-19 Is Not Increased in Patients With Celiac Disease
The World Health Organization declared coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) a global pandemic in March 2020. Since then, there are more than 34 million cases of COVID-19 leading to more than 1 million deaths worldwide. Numerous studies suggest that celiac disease (CeD), a chronic immune-mediated gastrointestinal condition triggered by gluten, is associated with an increased risk of respiratory infections.1-3 However, how it relates to the risk of COVID-19 is unknown. To address this gap, we conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate whether patients with self-reported CeD are at an increased risk of contracting COVID-19
Safety and efficacy of ribociclib plus letrozole in patients with HR+, HER2– advanced breast cancer: Results from the Spanish sub-population of the phase 3b CompLEEment-1 trial
Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy and the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality in Spanish women. Ribociclib in combination with endocrine therapy (ET) has shown superiority in prolonging survival in patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) advanced breast cancer (ABC) vs. ET alone.Methods: CompLEEment-1 is a single-arm, open-label phase 3b trial evaluating ribociclib plus letrozole in a broad population of patients with HR+, HER2- ABC. The primary endpoints were safety and tolerability. Here we report data for Spanish patients enrolled in CompLEEment-1.Results: A total of 526 patients were evaluated (median follow-up: 26.97 months). Baseline characteristics showed a diverse population with a median age of 54 years. At study entry, 56.5% of patients had visceral metastases and 8.7% had received prior chemotherapy for advanced disease. Rates of all-grade and Grade >= 3 adverse events (AEs) were 99.0% and 76.2%, respectively; 21.3% of patients experienced a serious AE, and 15.8% of AEs led to treatment discontinuation. AEs of special interest of neutropenia, increased alanine aminotransferase, increased aspartate aminotransferase and QTcF prolongation occurred in 77.8%, 14.8%, 11.4% and 4.0% of patients, respectively. Patients aged >70 years experienced increased rates of all-grade and Grade >= 3 neutropenia and anemia. Efficacy results were consistent with the global study.Conclusions: Results from Spanish patients enrolled in CompLEEment-1 are consistent with global data showing efficacy and a manageable safety profile for ribociclib plus letrozole treatment in patients with HR+, HER2-ABC, including populations of interest (NCT02941926).Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT0294192
In-depth characterization of NK cell markers from CML patients who discontinued tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy
IntroductionTreatment-free remission (TFR) in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase is considered a safe option if suitable molecular monitoring is available. However, the question arises as to which factors can contribute to the maintenance of TFR, and immunologic surveillance of the remaining leukemic cells is believed to be one of them. Argentina Stop Trial is an open-label, single-arm, multicenter trial assessing TFR after tyrosine kinase inhibitors interruption, that after more than 4 years showed a successful TFR rate of 63%.MethodsIn this context, we set up an immunological study by flow cytometry in order to analyze specific NK cell subsets from peripheral blood patient samples both at the time of discontinuation as well as during the subsequent months.ResultsAt the time of discontinuation, patients show a mature NK cell phenotype, probably associated to TKI treatment. However, 3 months after discontinuation, significant changes in several NK cell receptors occurred. Patients with a higher proportion of CD56dim NK and PD-1+ NK cells showed better chances of survival. More interestingly, non-relapsing patients also presented a subpopulation of NK cells with features associated with the expansion after cytomegalovirus infection (expression of CD57+NKG2C+), and higher proportion of NKp30 and NKp46 natural cytotoxicity receptors, which resulted in greater degranulation and associated with better survival (p<0.0001).DiscussionThis NK cell subset could have a protective role in patients who do not relapse, thus further characterization could be useful for patients in sustained deep molecular response
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